Wichitan Nico Hernandez takes quick break before Olympic training kicks into high gear (+video)

When Nico Hernandez returned home from the Americas Olympic Qualifier last month in Buenos Aires, he did so as the first Wichitan to earn a spot in the Olympic games since 2004.

He also returned to a much, much larger family than he remembered.

“I’m realizing I’ve got a lot more cousins than I ever realized,” Hernandez said, laughing. “Lots of new cousins. But it’s all love.”

Hernandez has felt a lot of love since coming home, his only real break before he dives into a packed schedule of training, exhibition fights and media appearances ahead of boxing for Team USA in August in Rio de Janeiro. He defeated Argentina’s Leando Blanc on March 17 in a unanimous decision to earn his spot.

He leaves Sunday for a two-week training session at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs – a place he has become familiar with the past several years – then it’s off to New York for media appearances in early May.

He’ll fight in an exhibition bout – likely in Cuba – before leaving for Rio at the end of June to begin training ahead of Olympic competition, where boxing runs from Aug. 6-21. The opening ceremony is Aug. 5.

Thursday, the 20-year-old light flyweight and North High product sat inside an office at the Northside 316 Boxing Club near 18th and Market, where he trains with his father, Lewis Hernandez. He talked about the path leading up to Rio.

Which includes a minor stir caused last week with a tweet about USA Boxing.

“Thought about stayin for another Olympics in 2020 but the way USA boxing does things I just can’t,” Hernandez tweeted Tuesday from his account, @NicoTheBoxer, which recently received Twitter’s “verified” blue checkmark.

Hernandez acknowledged that the likelihood he would’ve been an Olympian in 2020 is slim, anyway – he’ll likely go pro before then – and that the tweet stemmed from the amount of time he will be required to be in Colorado Springs and away from Lewis’ watchful eye.

“I just always thought two-time Olympian sounded cool,” Hernandez said. “But in reality, yes, I’d like to go pro by then. The tweet came from my frustration that I’m not going to be able to train with my father as much as I want. The way I look at it, that’s what got me here, so that’s what I want to continue with.

“No offense to the (USA Boxing) coaches, but I have trained with my father my whole life. I feel like he knows me and knows how I box better than anyone.”

Lewis Hernandez worried how the tweet might be interpreted, and tried to explain where some of the concern comes from. He said he’s already saving money and has plans in the works for a fundraiser to make sure he can be in Rio with Nico when he fights.

“I told him you probably don’t want to put it out there like that, because it could come off as sour, but we’ve already talked about making adjustments, we’ve already been in contact with the USA boxing coaches,” Lewis Hernandez said. “I understand how he feels, and our concern was that not a lot of coaches are accustomed to dealing with fighters that are Nico’s weight, and they don’t know his style.

“The way he was raised to fight, you can’t change his fighting style this late in the game. From the talks we’ve had with the coaches, I understand they’re going to start training him how we’ve always done it together ... we’ve just always worked good together and he has a lot of faith in me. He can do whatever you tell him to do out there, but at the same time he has to be told the right stuff. He’ll back you up 100 percent, and I know from my experience, in some of the fights we’ve lost, it’s been because of decisions I’ve made as a coach. Because he’ll do exactly what you tell him, without question.”

More and more, thought, the feeling is that Hernandez doesn’t need to be told as much as guided. He’s already cognizant of the weight he needs to lose between now and Rio. He’s currently 120 pounds and needs to fight at 108 pounds.

“I’ll start gradually cutting the weight, it won’t be something where I’ll try to take all of it off at the last minute,” said Hernandez, a former Golden Gloves and Junior Olympic champion. “That’s just not a smart way to do it.”

He’s also already formed a bond with his teammates, boxers he’s familiar with from his time with Junior Olympics and time spent training in Colorado Springs.

“What I’ve always liked about boxing is it’s an individual sport, where you don’t have to rely on anyone else,” Hernandez said. “But the relationships I’ve built are important, definitely. There are people who I’m already close with. I know how lucky I am to be around other, great athletes who have the same goals I have.”

One of those athletes is Lenexa’s Cam F. Awesome, a super heavyweight and the U.S. team captain. Awesome still needs to win at an international qualifier to make the Olympic team.

“Nico doesn’t speak too much, but when he does, it’s substance,” Awesome said. “He’s one of the younger guys on the team, but he’s already pretty experienced from the Junior Olympics and youth teams ... he’s already pretty much been around the world boxing, and I know we’re all super proud of him for qualifying. He had to fight more times than pretty much anybody to get there and he did it.

“One thing I’ve always loved about him is his confidence. He has this faith in himself that I love ... that’s young Nico, man. That’s all love for my man.”

That confidence was still on display Thursday, although in more subtle ways ... and started with a story about running into Wichita State guard Ron Baker last summer at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, where Baker was training with Team USA for the Pan American Games.

“It was kind of cool, me from Wichita and him playing for Wichita State,” Hernandez said. “Didn’t he and Fred VanVleet just get into the Wichita Sports Hall of Fame or something?”

They did, in fact. Just last week.

“How do you get elected to that?” Hernandez asked as he left the gym with a carload of friends. “Who decides that?”

And the rise of young Nico Hernandez continues.

This story was originally published April 9, 2016 at 6:28 PM with the headline "Wichitan Nico Hernandez takes quick break before Olympic training kicks into high gear (+video)."